University of Papua New Guinea: UPNG Press & Bookshop, 2017. v, 215 pp. US$32.00, cloth. ISBN 978-9980-89-203-4.
The captives referred to in the title are the hostages whom the Organisasi Papua Merdeka, (OPM), the fighters for freedom for West Papua, had taken in January 1996. The hostages were Indonesians, including two Papuans, and seven Europeans, including the Dutch couple Martha Klein and Mark van der Wal. Klein worked in Indonesia for UNESCO; the Australian Stephen Hill was her boss, based in Jakarta. An un-authored introductory note in the book describes him as a “polymath” (i). Appointed professor of sociology in Wollongong at age 30, he worked as a UNESCO Director from 1995 to early 2006. Now retired, he was in 2017 a visiting professor in Kyoto.
The book under review revises and updates Hill’s e-book Merdeka – Hostages, Freedom and Flying Pigs in West Papua (Sydney: Perceptric Press, 2014). In his new book Hill covers three topics: first, the attempts to bring the hostage-taking to an end; second, projects that he undertook to make good, to some extent, the damages that local Papuans had suffered due to the hostage affair, and to provide them with more income earning opportunities; and third, a discussion of the future of Papua (the name favoured by the Indonesian government) or West Papua (the name favoured by Papuans who want their country to be free). Hill has chosen to use the name West Papua, a usage I follow in this review.
Hill argues, correctly in my view, that for the OPM fighters Martha Klein was their main catch. This was because she was an employee of a United Nations organization and the fighters wanted to make their case known to the UN. Moreover, she was pregnant and the fighters viewed her child, once born, to be their saviour in their struggle for independence.
Negotiations about the release of the hostages soon got underway. Hill took part and reported regularly to UNESCO headquarters regarding their course. The negotiations went on and on and after 121 days broke down when Kelly Kwalik, the OPM leader, kept insisting that in exchange for the hostages West Papua was to become free. The Indonesian military then proceeded to liberate the hostages by force. The details of this operation are unclear. Hill concludes that all that is certain is that Kwalik aborted the Liberation Ceremony at the last minute, and that under (Subianto) Prabowo’s command, the military attacked Geselema (the settlement where the ceremony should have taken place) the next day disguised under the insignia of the International Red Cross (100). Prabowo, a son-in-law of president Suharto and at the time a major general, had until then favoured a non-violent solution.
The OPM fighters killed two Indonesian, non-Papuan, hostages apparently before the army actually attacked. The other hostages survived the operation. A few weeks later Klein gave birth to a son, in the Netherlands. In West Papua, Indonesian army units, led by Prabowo, conducted “major, murderous ‘retribution’ campaigns” (151). These included destruction of property. As a relief measure Hill organized the supply of village pigs. With this topic he starts the second part of his book. Hill used his position as a UNESCO director to get several income-earning projects going in Wamena, in the centre of the highlands and on the south coast. Thus far, Hill’s book is a historical one.
In the third part, Hill turns to contemporary politics, assessing the scope for freedom for West Papua. He notes that the “violence against the Papuan people by the Indonesian military continues to this day” (140). According to an Indonesian source, this has resulted in an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 casualties (Muridan S. Widjojo, ed., Papua Road Map [Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia/KITLV-Jakarta, 2010], 162, and not 27, as Hill mentions in his book on page 205, note 127). Hill writes, “At the heart [of this struggle] are three men of integrity” (184). Here he is referring to Joko Widodo, the current president, and Papuans Benny Wenda (in exile in Britain) and Octavianus Mote (in exile in the US), both actively lobbying for the liberation of West Papua. As their main and powerful adversary, Hill views the Indonesian military with Prabowo as still a crucial player. He also sees a growing international recognition of the plight of the Papuans, and hence some room for political gains. A major point is the renewed demand for a plebiscite about West Papua’s political future, given that the Indonesian government manipulated the outcome of the 1969 Act of Free Choice. Hill’s account is very valuable. He writes clearly, with insight and can draw on a wide range of information.
At several points in the text Hill writes about the “10,000 years old cultures” of the West Papuans. However, these cultures have changed a great deal and probably diversified during that lengthy period. They will have to change further if political freedom, or autonomy, comes about. He comments further that the “kidnapping shook the West Papuan Highlands out of their tribal securities” (185). However, by then the highlanders had experienced 33 years of harsh Indonesian rule. Moreover, I doubt that tribal life offered much continuing security.
Though Hill makes use of numerous sources, these are only English-language ones. Moreover, his book suffers from lack of editorial care. There is no map, notwithstanding the many geographical names that the text contains. There are also repetitions, several names are occasionally misspelt, and while the text refers to 251 endnotes, there are only 243 listed at the end of the book. Thus, apparently from page 154, the endnote numbers in the text do not match those in the endnote list.
Anton Ploeg
Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands